40 Bits Of Knowledge People Learnt That Feel Almost Illegal To Know, Shared In This Online Group
People realized that knowledge is power very early on and the phrase is often attributed to Sir Francis Bacon, an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General (1613-1617) and as Lord Chancellor of England (1617-1621).
Not everyone possesses the same knowledge, but not everyone is allowed to. At the same time, there are things that you think you shouldn’t know because it’s not your place, but actually it’s not classified information, it just sounds like it.
If you would like to hear some examples of such information, this list contains all sorts of cases when people think that it’s almost illegal to know what they know. The thread started when craftygalcreates asked “What's a piece of information you learned that now feels almost illegal to know?” In two days, the question got almost 40k upvotes as people were interested to read the secrets that are not really secrets.
More info: Reddit
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When I was a kid, my dad taught me how to pick a lock. I became very interested in different kinds of locks and purchased a lock pick set. I practiced for years and became pretty good at certain types of locks. So over the years every now and then, if a neighbor locks themselves out of the house or a friend loses the key to a padlock or a lock box I’ve been able to help. But the reactions I tend to get from people, even while I’m helping them with their lock is mainly one of mistrust. I’m not a cat burglar. I just like locks.
Well I'm in med school and funny enough learning how to not kill a person involves learning about a s**t ton of ways to kill a person
(This is England knowledge, other countries may vary) If you are struggling to pay bills, make water the first one you skip. Access to water is protected by law so the utility supplier cannot cut you off.
You can ask scientists for their research paper that you usually have to pay money to view in a journal. They are allowed to just email it to you no questions asked and they like to do it!
Totally another route of what everyone else is posting but.... the lion at The Animal Kingdom safari ride isn't chained (Disney World park). He is fed a huge piece of meat every morning and sits on a rock that is changed to the perfect temperature for him everyday so he has no reason to attack anyone on the safari ride.
Unionization saves you more money than it costs you, you cannot be punished for attempting to do so, and it is NOT in any way illegal, rude, or improper to discuss your salary with your coworkers.
It feels illegal because every company on the f*****g planet has tried to make people think unions are evil monsters trying to get you to pay union dues for no return. This is false because union dues are much less expensive than a company underpaying you and trying to work you to death, which a union fights against. Unions are there to prevent worker exploitation, stop it if people were being exploited when they got there, and get you a fair wage that will actually let you live off of one job instead of needing 4-5 or to work criminal amounts of overtime.
Not "on the f****ing planet...Only USA..in Italy we have "sindacati" and it's a normal thing..
Creating Nitrogen triiodide. When in liquid form it is stable but once it dries so much as a fly landing on it creates a purple smoke explosion. It's so unstable that alpha radiation can be used to detonate the stuff.
It's actually easy to get the materials and create the stuff. Filled my high school hallway stairs with purple smoke on the last day of school.
Police are allowed to lie to you. So are military recruiters.
One thing I learned is in the state of California if you are squatting a property for five years and have been upkeeping it with proof, you can file a claim of ownership with the courts and take over any property as long as it was deemed that the original owner never tried to remove you within the same timeframe.
It is legal to grow opium poppies in the United States, but only if you don't know they can be used to make drugs
Read a personal finance book that recommended calling your providers once a year (credit card companies, TV/internet providers, cell phone company, etc) and demand a lower rate or price. I’ve been following that advice for two years and have not been denied once.
Last week I saw a commercial for my internet provider offering a super low introductory rate so I called to demand that I get that rate. They said no problem and now I save an extra $700 a year because of a 5 minute call. I am a very passive introvert so it’s not the most easy or comfortable thing but the money I save is worth it. They may so no initially but if you ask a few times or ask to speak to their supervisor they very usually give in.
*Edit the book is called “I Will Teach You to be Rich” (cringey title, awesome book imo)
I call bs. When has a call to an internet company ever lasted less than a half hour.
Hospitals have but don’t tell you about a program to reduce your bills depending on how much you make. You can go to their website and find a usually hidden link for financial assistance policies and really cut your bill down
Well, I gave my 9th grade chemistry class a detailed report on diacetylmorphine (heroin) for a project about organic molecules, including how to make it. It was pretty interesting to do and fun to present, but I feel like I broke the law somehow.
When you have a debt with a collection agency you can pay the debt and then call back a few weeks later and say, “I was told when I called and paid that you’d remove this from my credit score.” And then you ask for documentation saying they’re gonna do it. Apparently collection agencies don’t keep super good records on stuff like that; they just want your money. It worked for me, and I hope it can work for you if you need it in the future.
Debt collection agencies just want money. Who would have thought. /s
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I'm too European to understand this one. I barely understand credit scores, and have no idea what the 'secret knowledge' is here?
I guess I am too European too. and that credit score they use in America seems bonkers to me, First lend money and pay it back to raise your credit score so that you can lend more money. Ill do it the dutch way and just save money
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Yeah, I've heard something about this, collection agencies don't necessarily report you paid in full to credit agencies, and since accounts often get sold between collection agencies it's best to keep good records, one agency may not have your payment recorded from another agency, a lot of documentation doesn't always follow...
I think they're saying "Keep bugging debt collection companies that you've paid because they don't do a good job." One of my horror stories with American healthcare is when I kept getting "You haven't paid!" in the mail. Called my insurance and hospital multiple times, and they always said it's paid in full, so I thought it was a scam. Come to find out I owed money to a separate company from the same visit. It got sent to collections, and I paid ASAP so it wouldn't hurt my credit score. They didn't register that I paid, so I kept getting the same scary letters. So I paid again just to protect my credit, and then tried to get refunded. Nearly 3 years later, they refunded me, and a month after that, I got another letter saying I had an outstanding debt for the exact same amount. Called for the umpteenth time and finally someone f*****g figured it out on their end.
If you get a notice from a collector, request the original documentation that shows you are responsible. If companies are unable to do this, they cannot keep your debt in collections. Additionally, if you dispute through a credit bureau, the collector has to present original documentation. They have (I can't remember precisely) 30-90 days to provide or must rescind your debt. These companies often do not have the chain of records, or it's not worth them trying to find it based on the amount owed.
NEVER pay a collection agency. Their interest rates are through the roof. Always pay the organization that you initially owe and even if they've "sold" your debt to collections they cannot refuse a payment from you or the debt is wiped.
Agreed. Just pay the provider, not the collection agency.
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I worked for a collection agency, we never sent the documentation. They don't care.
I refuse to pay them and always pay the company I owe. Right now I'm paying off my cancer bills and my husband's heart attack. Yes, some go to collections because I don't have thousands to pay as fast as they want. But I do get them paid and I can usually get them to take it off my credit report once it's done. Collections won't do that
Again false. Collection agency have no control to remove from credit report. But! You can raise a dispute with the credit agencies. And they will remove it if its paid, "usually". I had small amount in collection. Called the collection agency multiple times, wrote letter. All they said that they can do is give me a letter its paid. I was working on a home loan and that company has credit repair specialist and he suggested I raise a dispute. Use the "I had No knowledge of account or Not Mine" option. If the account is paid off, it's easier for the agency to just remove it rather than go through entire process of finding out what happened. All 3 agency removed it immediately. Experian did it in 24 hrs, Equifax did in 3 days and Transunion took couple of weeks. But its removed now and my score bumped by 60 points!
I worked for a collection agency in my mid 20s. I lasted all of a month. I couldn't believe how predatory and uncaring they were. Meek 90 year old woman on a *very* limited income being literally yelled at by my supervisor for choosing to eat and buy her lifesaving medications over paying an old phone bill. It ought to be illegal. My supervisor yelled until the old woman was in tears. He slammed the phone down and laughed...LAUGHED...that he'd be getting a raise soon. I walked out that day.
I was wondering the same. It's good info to know, but how does it feel illegal to have this info?
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You call- negotiate paying only half of it & then ask them to delete upon payment. Have them put it in writing (email or regular mail) then once you pay the negotiated reduction- they’ll delete the debt from your credit report permanently. Been helping people do this for decades
no idea why the author used a picture of Swiss currency (Swiss Francs) but that's not how it works here.
Don't EVER pay something to a collection agency without absolute proof the money owing is yours. I had one trying to get money from me for a woman of the same name. ALWAYS ask for proof - and I don't mean just a statement of account. Get actual itemized invoices. I requested these from a collection agency for bills I KNEW I didn't owe and what do you know? I never heard from them again.
This is bad advice! Don't pay your debt with a collection agency at all. Dispute it. If they don't have proper records, they will drop it. If they do, you can wait 7 years or barter down. Offer 10% of the full debt. They may very well take what they can get - then use the proof of payment to dispute it on your credit score yourself (since the debt collections agency likely won't do it for you).
You can also just pay the company for whom the collection agency is working on behalf of and avoid those sh!¶heels altogether.
Some Collectors are knowledgeable of the law and follow it. And are empathetic. (Credit Union Collection Mgr) Third party (agencies) adhere to different laws. However debts such as Childrens medical
This isn't a thing you "can" do. This is a thing that you SHOULD do once they've acknowledged the debt as paid in full. If you don't have that written acknowledgement they can hold that debt on their records and it will be your responsibility to otherwise prove that you've paid the debt and then get it removed from your credit.
I had a collection agency mail me a doctor's bill from a hospital bill one time. (doctors bill separate from the ER in Texas) Turns out the hospital had my address wrong. I had already fixed the issue with the ER and I assumed it would carry to the doctor's company that would bill me, but apparently not. I called the collection agency and explained what happened. I also informed them that I had insurance which was not showing on the bill (if it was I just would have paid it). They attempted to contact the doctor for a year (which was my insurance cutoff for filing a claim) and got no response. They said it wouldn't affect me since the doctor's place never responded. Such a weird incident.
How does it get so bad that there are collection agencies after you ?
(2/2) I was also offered a psychologist/psychiatrist (can't remember which) to help ME cope with everything, as it was an extremely scary time...especially when she was first born and we first got the diagnosis. I joined an online support group foe heart moms/families with children who have congenital heart defects...and many are American. The open heart surgery ALONE carries a price-tag of OVER A MILLION DOLLARS. Nevermind the $30,000 air-ambulance ride or multiple other surgeries or extensive NICU/PICU stay or regular hospitalization....plus monthly flights and EKG/echocardiogram's. That would bankrupt any family. So yeah.....not hard to see how it can happen. I am so grateful to be Canadian and grateful that I just get to love my daughter and not worry about the cost involved. ❤️
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In the US they just do it. At least that's the case with every collection agency I've every dealt with.
How about this one for feeling illegal. You start with a zero credit no credit history. Within 3-6 months of regular payments and your credit score soars up into very good or excellent credit. Now, you can rent or buy houses, lease or buy cars and get credit cards with very low interest rates.
In just a few months vs. the years you'd think would be a more accurate reflection. Also, if you take on too much debt you WILL default on something and your score will begin to plummet, even if everything else is current. I know this because I did this.
Load More Replies... I love that this assumes people have debts in collections. I mean, I DO, but not the average joe.
You'd be surprised. It's waaaay more common than you think.
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Upright banknotes! That's so intuitive - and they are beautiful..
They make $$$$ off double-collecting from people who didn't document. tip from a former patient who worked at one.
Nope. Not true. In fact once you respond to their demands, you are on the hook to pay it off. Every collection agency keeps meticulous track of incoming phone calls and letters, if they can prove you contacted them, you haven’t a leg to stand on. Collections are their bread and butter, they will also sell your account information to other collection agencies so more than one company can come after you for an unpaid balance, you can get stuck paying the same amount owed to more than one collection service.Always check the date the bill went to collections. There is a stature of limitations on collections. **USA
Tell me you've had a charmed life without telling me you've had a charmed life.
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There is a book called "100 deadly skills" that teaches you how to do all sorts of potentially illegal stuff
I don't know if it's still a thing, but if you listen to Pandora radio the songs download into your temp folder under your browser. Just add the. Mp4 after it and you can play it.
I spent lots of college listening to Pandora, and if I liked a song I'd save it. If you paused the song in time then the most recent song was the top one in the temp folder.
In Canada you can record any conversation with someone without their knowledge, unless it is in furtherance of an offence.
I had to do this with an auto restoration shop in order to do a Visa chargeback when they did nothing to my car but steal parts for almost a year (Curtis Customs in Nova Scotia - I don’t mind mentioning them because there are already news stories about their scams)
EDIT: A lot of replies from people possibly misreading. If "you" are recording a "conversation with someone," you are part of the conversation and would be the consenting individual (one party consent). It's definitely wrong and illegal to record just any conversation between two or more other people
Yeah, my wife had a disciplinary at work, I bought her a USB pen (not admissible in court) but she used it to transcribe. The audio distorted slightly when her boss started shouting at her though (she sued and won for constructive dismissal).
When companies ask for your name/age/sex/race/occupation/salary/etc. you can just lie.
You’ll never be able to remove the information about yourself off the internet, but you can muddy the water quite a bit.
Aluminum foil can block the thefts detection signals in super markets.
Confidence can open a lot of doors. A lot of times, you can get away with more with some swagger than you otherwise would being meek about it.
90% of home locks are easily pickable with a little know how and a couple pieces of metal.
Despite this, most burglars either find an open window or break the glass. So locks are generally effective at their intended job.
That in Ireland there is no legal age to get tattoo. Legally you can tattoo a newborn as long as the parents consent. We can get done for bodily harm to a minor if their is no consent. We have an industry standard of 16 with parent or 18 with ID. I'm a tattooist in Ireland.
I worked for a giant tech company and apparently share the same name as a very high up hardware engineer, got put on email threads I definitely didn’t belong on.
Had a co-worker who made me stalk my boss. Found out he had a girlfriend and was paying for her apartment. Felt awful every time his wife called. Kept my mouth shut though. Looking at you Cliff D.
I had a stats prof who used to work for the US government. I'm not sure exactly what his job was, but it definitely involved evaluating the status and readiness of nukes, both ours and the USSR's (he was probably at least 70 and had been retired from that job for a while). One day in class he just started talking about the percentage of nukes that fail (ours and theirs) and why they fail and all kinds of other, seemingly sensitive, information. I don't think he would have told us anything classified, but his personality was boisterous and irreverent enough that I am not sure. I literally expected a team of spooks to bust down the door at any minute and drag us all off for interviews in windowless rooms.
someNSFWprofile said:
How to make a few different drugs. Organic chem at uni
xk543x responded:
How to make many illegal drugs
Freelance Pharmacy institute of research and testing
LittleOrangeBoi said:
When you're on a jury you can vote for someone as innocent even if you think they did it. Most common reasoning for this would be if you just think that they shouldn't be punished for whatever they did. I can't remember the term for it something like Third Option.
rjlupin5499 added:
Jury Nullification. It's definitely a thing in the U.S.
In regards to military grade bombs and missiles, it takes actual effort to make one go off on the ground. Like, you literally have to go out of your way to arm the fuse, then sit around for a timer to detonate said bomb.
Its not like in the movies, where a soft breeze or some nutjob with a hammer, will make a bomb just explode for no reason.
You can say no when cashiers ask for your email or phone number.
Yeah I say no all the time; I do not want companies blowing up my inbox
1284x is a Ford fleet key. Not chipped, can be found on Amazon for $7 and perfectly legal to replicate.
Searching "1284x" filetype:.pdf site:.gov
Will pull government bids that involve that key, and also show you what agencies you could open up or drive away a police car.
The last airplane you rode was likely assembled with parts not fully conforming to qc standards but passed through inspection anyways.
Can confirm. I have friends who work at Boeing and they say that the QA people and the Manufacturing Line people are always butting heads.
When you do a kfc survey you get free food, you can do them over and over again Steps- go in the survey site, it’s usually (franchise)listens on google Next enter a random code and keep refreshing for a good 15 seconds, then do anything on the survey because they don’t care, then just show them your code at the register, they also have to do it because it’s part of their job, this also works for crispy cream and other places to, don’t do it heaps because it’s sorta scummy (but enjoy)
If you rent out your home for 14 or fewer days a year, you do not have to pay taxes on this income….Section 280A(g) of the Internal Revenue Code
Regardless of the amount of rent? "No I didn't win the lottery. Someone rented my house for a million dollars per night."
Most large retail employers don’t have a policy against recording your interactions with your bosses.
The tricks doctors use to distract you when they’re trying to check your reflexes
How to make Thermite. I don't know why, Thermite itself itsn't actually all that useful or destructive. It burns hot sure, but it's not going to melt anything very well without a proper vessel to contain and direct the heat into the thing you want to melt.
The Ukrainians have found that it's good for permanently parking Russian tanks
51 is divisible by 17
What the inside of a British post box looks like
My (now long time latent) anxiety disorder made me realize some truths about life, nature and our place in the universe that I don't discuss with others to not bring them existential despair. I'm doing OK by the way.
I have to keep a lot to myself too. Hugs to you, if you don't mind accepting them. It's a bit lonely sometimes, isn't it?
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The small dirt lot down the street from me has a water spigot coming out of the ground. That's where your "bottled at the source" Northern California spring water comes from. Big tanker trucks pull into this dirt lot off the street and connect to this little pipe with only a padlocked little fence around it and fill up with my town's water and then sell it in fancy bottles for $$$$$
That's gotta be a big spigot. Most tankers fill from 4-6 inch lines because a regular spigot would take something like 50 hours to fill a taker truck.
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In Ontario Canada a resident of a long term care home cannot be evicted for non-payment. The LTC can remove perks like cable and move you to a cheaper room but cannot make you leave. If you really want to play it smart one could give their kids most of their money as an early inheritance (also saves taxes since it is a gift) and keep enough to pay only a few months. Hopefully the kids will spend money on a good ipad and internet plan for you and buy you some nice meals
Former long term employee of a large sporting goods company. When you go to any store to get a regular soccer, football, volleyball, ect. it doesn't matter what brand you get. Nike, Wilson, Spalding, & many more meant for stores in foreign countries ALL come from the same manufacturering plant in China. It was relatively common open a box of "our" deflates only to find a competitors product in the box. So unless it's 'An Official Game Ball' (ie made of real leather) then it doesn't matter what brand you buy it's literally all the same. Just pick the design you like best the Brand Name means nothing.
We don't pay for water in Northern Ireland it's part of your house rates ,, only farmers pay what they use for livestock plus the area I live in the mournes there's a old folk tale that because of the men from mourne built the biggest dam silent valley that supplies most of Northern Ireland if it did come to us paying we would be exempt
In the USA you can buy and drive a 18 wheeler on a class c driver's license if you are not using it for commercial use. (Like taking it to the store to get one gallon of milk.)
A lot of tgings on the internet that are somehow legal, but have damaged me
I used to have the Anarchists cookbook on disk (Amiga text files). I never tried anything on it and lost the disk years ago but you would most likely get into a lot of trouble just having a copy these days.
In the US if you want to avoid taxes on a small amount and you trust your spouse, you're allowed to make a one time gift to them of up to 30K tax free as long as it goes into a separate account just in their name. You can really give it to anyone, but the recipient then doesn't need to claim it on their taxes. So if you trust your spouse, give it to them and file taxes separately. You'll lose other benefits of filing jointly, but if you don't have kids or really benefit greatly from that filing, then you can keep gifting 30k to each other every year and take it out of the bank and hide it under your mattress or whatever.
My (now long time latent) anxiety disorder made me realize some truths about life, nature and our place in the universe that I don't discuss with others to not bring them existential despair. I'm doing OK by the way.
I have to keep a lot to myself too. Hugs to you, if you don't mind accepting them. It's a bit lonely sometimes, isn't it?
Load More Replies... The small dirt lot down the street from me has a water spigot coming out of the ground. That's where your "bottled at the source" Northern California spring water comes from. Big tanker trucks pull into this dirt lot off the street and connect to this little pipe with only a padlocked little fence around it and fill up with my town's water and then sell it in fancy bottles for $$$$$
That's gotta be a big spigot. Most tankers fill from 4-6 inch lines because a regular spigot would take something like 50 hours to fill a taker truck.
Load More Replies... In Ontario Canada a resident of a long term care home cannot be evicted for non-payment. The LTC can remove perks like cable and move you to a cheaper room but cannot make you leave. If you really want to play it smart one could give their kids most of their money as an early inheritance (also saves taxes since it is a gift) and keep enough to pay only a few months. Hopefully the kids will spend money on a good ipad and internet plan for you and buy you some nice meals
Former long term employee of a large sporting goods company. When you go to any store to get a regular soccer, football, volleyball, ect. it doesn't matter what brand you get. Nike, Wilson, Spalding, & many more meant for stores in foreign countries ALL come from the same manufacturering plant in China. It was relatively common open a box of "our" deflates only to find a competitors product in the box. So unless it's 'An Official Game Ball' (ie made of real leather) then it doesn't matter what brand you buy it's literally all the same. Just pick the design you like best the Brand Name means nothing.
We don't pay for water in Northern Ireland it's part of your house rates ,, only farmers pay what they use for livestock plus the area I live in the mournes there's a old folk tale that because of the men from mourne built the biggest dam silent valley that supplies most of Northern Ireland if it did come to us paying we would be exempt
In the USA you can buy and drive a 18 wheeler on a class c driver's license if you are not using it for commercial use. (Like taking it to the store to get one gallon of milk.)
A lot of tgings on the internet that are somehow legal, but have damaged me
I used to have the Anarchists cookbook on disk (Amiga text files). I never tried anything on it and lost the disk years ago but you would most likely get into a lot of trouble just having a copy these days.
In the US if you want to avoid taxes on a small amount and you trust your spouse, you're allowed to make a one time gift to them of up to 30K tax free as long as it goes into a separate account just in their name. You can really give it to anyone, but the recipient then doesn't need to claim it on their taxes. So if you trust your spouse, give it to them and file taxes separately. You'll lose other benefits of filing jointly, but if you don't have kids or really benefit greatly from that filing, then you can keep gifting 30k to each other every year and take it out of the bank and hide it under your mattress or whatever.
